Rising Tides Ch 1
by CAKoenigsknecht
Summary: Here is something I've been working on. It throws together a little of Atlantis, element bending, and fighting for whats right. Tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." General Norman Schwarzkopf

Kohan looked at the faces of the warriors in tight formation behind him. They were stern and focused and most importantly, desperate. They were ready. He raised his arm and screamed, "CHARGE!" Immediately, thousands of voices followed suit and rang out into battle cries. They rushed past down the hill into the valley, swords drawn, ready for blood.

At the sound of their cry, a reception force poured out of the castle before them. With military precision it filed out of the castle and fell into tight formation in front of the castle. It quickly grew until the rushing army was severely out numbered. Some of the men faltered for a moment before continuing to battle, but most just rushed forward with even more conviction. It was either do or die for these men.

The two armies quickly met and the greatest battle Atlantis had ever witnessed began. Swords clashed, shields clanked, and men screamed. Body parts flew every which way and blood started to pool around the warrior's feet. Kohan signaled for the benders behind him to begin their assault. Earth benders form great boulders of rock, fire benders set them ablaze, and air benders blew them across the battle field with hurricane force winds. The boulders crashed into the opposing army with mass devastation. They left craters the size of elephants and enemy soldiers scattered all around. However, it only went a little way to evening out the odds.

As the battle raged on, the armies merged together into one giant mass of fighting. Kohan signaled again and the benders left their posts to join the fighting head on. The fire benders drew swords of fire and ran out with yells as loud as an inferno, the air benders flew onto the battle field with gusts of wind, and the earth benders simply sped forward on a moving patch of earth. Now when he looked behind him there were only four people remaining. Ivan, Vorick, Annabelle, and Anrok.

"If you want to back out now would be the time." Kohan said to his only friends.

"No the time to back out was when you told us of this crazy plan. We are in this to the end." Anrok said.

"Then we shall take our leave. Remember, move swiftly and get to the castle at all costs. We must end this here and now."

At this they swiftly ran into the valley. They were in tight formation with Ivan, Vorick, Annabelle, and Anrok surrounding Kohan. They ran directly into the middle of the battle, cleaving a path through the mass of limbs and bodies as they went.

It was not long before they met heavy resistance. Groups of soldiers stormed towards them. "Fight through them! We must make it to the castle" Vorick called sending a shock wave through the earth before them, causing the advancing soldiers to fall to the ground.

"Kill them quickly and move on." Ivan commanded while cutting off one soldiers head with a sword engulfed in flames.

The five of them made quick work of the twenty or so soldiers that came to meet them by plunging swords and knives through their necks. Just as Anrok pulled his knife from the last man, another force twice as large came at them.

"They have resolved not to let us reach the castle!" Annabelle exclaimed.

"Then let us match their resolve with our skill and determination." Kohan yelled rushing forward with his sword held high.

He swung his sword, creating a razor sharp wave of ice in the swords wake and sent the wave flying with a lung of his sword at the advancing soldiers. The wave dealt massive amounts of damage, completely cutting the first row of ten men completely in half and mortally wounding the next two rows. Blood running from the bodies covered the small bunch as they passed the first three lines to engage the last of about ten soldiers.

"WE SHALL NOT FAIL! FOR ATLANTIS!" Kohan called as he stabbed on of the soldiers through the armpit into the heart.

He turned quickly to block another soldier and followed through with a stab into the throat. He made quick work of three more soldiers in the same fashion. That was when he heard a scream. It was Annabelle's.


	2. Chapter 2

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their ingenuity." George S. Patton

The doors slid apart to reveal four heavily muscled men. They wore loose fitting combat clothes and they all carried staves about five feet long with alarmingly sharp blades on the end. The usual. I decided to change things up and make to first move this time. I grabbed my only means of self defense, a full water bottle.

I uncapped the end and took a drink for a quick boost of energy, then squirted about a quarter of the water into the air. While it was still in the air, I was focusing my concentration, and then I turned my concentration to freezing the water into five pencil sized spears. I flung them at my assailants with a hard mental push.

Realizing they were under fire, most of the men dived away, but one was slightly too slow and ended up with an ice spear in his leg for it. The spear sunk deep into the man's thigh and blood gushed from the wound, giving the end of the spear an unnatural red tint.

He cried out in pain and collapsed onto the floor. When he surveyed his wound, he cried out in pain once more and tapped his left shoulder twice. Instantly, he disappeared in a cloud of blue sparks.

Undeterred by the sudden disappearance of their partner the other three men continued their assault. One of them jumped to his feet and threw a knife at me faster than the eye could see. I jumped out of the way and emptied the rest of the water bottle in no particular direction. As soon as I landed, I set my concentration to pulling the water around my hand, forming a sphere that completely encased my right hand. With a quick thought and a swing of my arm for emphasis, I shaped the sphere into a double-edged blade about three-and-half feet long around my hand and ended it at a dangerously sharp point. The blade completely encased my hand literally making it an extension of my arm. I jumped to my feet, my new weapon in front of me ready to attack.

_Ah crap! This is going to be fun. _I thought as I realized that in the time I wasted making my sword the rest of the men had surrounded me.

"Let's have some fun shall we." My comment must have thrown them off their guard because when I lunged at one of their necks, he didn't even react. The tip of my sword got about an inch from his throat when he disappeared in a cloud of blue stars, just like the one before him.

I spun around quickly and brought my sword up just in time to block one of the other men's stick, aimed for my heart. "Nice try." I said just before bringing my leg up and kicking him square in the chest. The man fell backward and I launched myself in the opposite direction. As I flew in the air I felt something sink into my leg. Searing pain shot up my leg as I landed. I looked briefly at my injury and saw that there was a knife sticking out of my leg up to the hilt.

_Crap! I need to finish this now._ I looked up and both of the men were advancing on me with the business ends of their sticks pointing at me. I began to gather my concentration one last time. I raised my sword for one final swing, releasing the ice as it went, leaving a wave of ice flying through the air towards the men.

Both men got hit, hard. One fell instantly to the ground, unconscious, and was gone in a blue cloud of sparks in another second. The other was caught by the wave and sent flying across the room, where he the wall with an extremely loud thud. However, he managed to remain awake. He raised his knife one last time in a feeble attempt to get me but all he did was use the last of his strength and collapse before he got it over his head.

A second later both he and I disappeared in a cloud of blue stars.

"Ouch, that looks like a nasty one. You know that if you did this anywhere but here in Atlantis, you probably wouldn't be able to regain full use of your leg." Marriette said matter-of-factly.

"Well I guess it's a good thing that we have you medical mages here then."

"Darn right. Now hold still so I can patch you up."

She took out a green bottle out of the cabinet of the examination room we were in and dumped some of the contents onto a towel and covered my leg. A burning sensation instantly shot up my leg and I recoiled violently. She just rolled her eyes and started wrapping my leg in bandages.

"Now what did I tell you about squirming. You know everyone who comes through here is the same, complete wimps. They can take a knife to the leg or an arrow in the shoulder and still fight, but they can't take a few seconds of antibiotic to save their lives." She finished with a final tug and a piece of medical tape. "You know the drill. Keep it clean and dry, and redress the wound every now and then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go attend to the other guys you screwed up."

I got up and tested my leg. There was some was some pain when I put weight on it, but not much. I walked out of the room and down a hallway. However, I barely got ten feet before …

"Hey Chris. Hold up a second."

I turned and sure enough running toward me was Alan, the overexcited annoyance who has been my shadow ever since I arrived.

"Chris you were awesome out there, the way you took out the last two guys was amazing. They almost had you, but of course I always knew that you wouldn't lose." He was so excited that he even starting to jump up and down. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the energy to listen to him go on at the time.

"You know if you don't mind, I'm kinda tired and I just want to get back to my apartment." I turned to leave but before I even noticed he was right in front of me again.

"Hold on. I was supposed to tell you something. Oh yea, Malic wants you to go see him."

"Great, thanks. I'll talk to him later."

"No, he said it was urgent and to go see him right away."

_Ah crap. I should probably go see him then._

"Okay thanks for the message."

I walked past him and continued on my way down the hall. Alan looked a little disappointed but I would have to make it up to him later. I went a little ways farther and the hall opened up into a large cavernous hall. The floor consisted of a constantly changing mosaic of tiles. At the moment it was a swirling mix of white and blue. A large stair case leading up to a set of double doors the size of garage doors dominated the hall. Yet, all of this was barely recognizable through the throng of people milling about and walking in and out of various hallways leading off the main floor.

However, I didn't even break stride when I saw this. Partially because I was in a hurry to get this meeting with Malic over with so I could just go back to my apartment and rest. The other part was the fact that I had seen this exact hall every day since I arrived in Atlantis almost a year ago. I just worked my way through the mass of people and up the stairs. Upon my approach, the double doors swung open without so much as a squeak.

In side was a small room with nothing but three small doors. "Go right on in, Melic is expecting you." It was the friendly female reception voice that nobody seems to know where it comes from.

I didn't even pay attention to her. I just went straight for the middle door. Inside the door was a set of spiral stairs that led to a well-lit study. Malic was sitting in a fancy leather armchair. His posture and casual button down shirt and slacks attempted to create the illusion of calmness, yet there was something in his face that told otherwise. His brow was furrowed like he was worrying about something. As soon as I walked into the study however, he became alert and any trace of unease disappeared.

"Ah Chris, I was hoping that Alan would catch you in time. Please, take a seat."

"The last time you said that, I ended up getting stuck here away from my family."

"Yes, well last time was almost a year ago when your abilities were severely underdeveloped. To allow you to go back to you home could have proved to be dangerous."

"That's what you said then too. Now what do you want me here for. I don't need to hear it from you that I had another successful training session."

"Yes you did do quite well today, but as you suspected that is not the reason I called you here. I have a job for you. Now before you ask details, I would like you to hold any questions until the end. I'm going to send you home."

I couldn't help myself, "What! Are you kidding me?!"

"Now hold on let me explain. There are more people with powers, not unlike yours, that we have become aware of. We are going to send you to retrieve them and bring them back here before things get out of hand." He handed me a manila envelope. "In there are the names, addresses, and photos of the ones we want you to find. Now you may ask your questions."

"First of all why are you sending me instead of almost anyone else in Atlantis?"

"Simple, no one from Atlantis has been to the outside world for decades. You are only a year removed from your world and therefore still understand the customs."

"Okay, why not just teleport them here, like you did me?"

"Because we are learning from our mistakes. As you well remember, when you arrived, you resented us. It took a while before we could calm you down enough to even begin training. We believe that if you go to persuade them then training will go smoother."

I began to look at the information in the envelope. "These people are all across the U.S. How am I supposed to get to them?"

"Ah yes, I almost forgot." He handed me a Platinum card. "One of our local business owners has been gracious enough to fund our little expedition."

"How am I supposed to get back once I find these people?"

"Contact the company that card is registered to. The owner will notify me and I will personally bring you back."

"One final question, when do I leave?"

"Right now." Before I could protest Malic waved his hand in front of me and a bright light blinded me. When my eyes adjusted again I was in a room illuminated only by moonlight. I turned on a lamp on a table beside me. That's when I realize I knew where I was. I was in my old bedroom. I was home again for the first time in a year.


End file.
